Tigers insider makes bold All-Star pick for Detroit that fans will be surprised by

In 2025, the Detroit Tigers sent four position players to the MLB All-Star Game. Three of them — Javier Báez, Riley Greene, and Gleyber Torres — were named All-Star starters.

Things might look a little different for the Tigers when the 2026 All-Star Game comes around, and The Athletic's Cody Stavenhagen made a very interesting prediction this past week in that regard. When asked in a mailbag article to pick the single most likely Tigers position player to make the '26 All-Star Game, Stavenhagen went with a player who has never earned the nod in his young career: Dillon Dingler.

The 27-year-old Dingler is slashing .262/.367/.500 with three homers and 11 RBI for Detroit this season. Stavenhagen pointed out in his article that Dingler's 4.1 fWAR last season was third among all MLB catchers, behind only Cal Raleigh and Alejandro Kirk. He also noted that Dingler has a great chance to hit more homers this season than he did last year (13), and he reminded everyone that Dingler plays elite defense, having won a Gold Glove in '25.

Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler might make his first All-Star team in 2026

While Dingler hasn't yet established himself as a household name nationally, Tigers die-hards have long appreciated him — and many of those fans have forecasted a breakout season coming. He's definitely one of the most underrated Tigers, if not one of the most underrated players in the sport, and an All-Star appearance would go a long way towards rightfully putting his name on the map.

The best news about Dingler's favorable start to 2026 is that the arthroscopic elbow procedure he underwent in January doesn't appear to have limited him in any way, shape or form. The Tigers made depth chart adjustments in 2025 to allow for Dingler to fully bloom, and they are hoping that his offensive prowess continues to grow this season.

An elite defensive catcher who can also rake is one of the most valuable commodities in the sport. We saw this last season with all of the praise that Raleigh received for pulling off a 60-homer season while logging 1,072 innings behind the plate. Dingler has a higher ceiling defensively than Raleigh, and while he'll almost certainly never hit 60 dingers in a season (will any other catcher?), Dingler's developing bat promises to give him a shot to be the best all-around backstop in the league.

The Tigers are expected to be in the contender mix once again, even if their slow start to the season doesn't indicate that. Once they get humming and start stacking wins this summer, don't be surprised to see an improved Dingler at the center of that production.